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Lines in the landscape As compositional aids come,
leading lines are one of the strongest and throughout spring
and summer there are often plenty of opportunities to include
them as part of the landscape. Crop fields, such as wheat and barley,
and oilseed rape often have tractor lines you can use to lead the viewer
through the frame while daffodils, tulips and lavender are already
grown in rows. While daffodils and tulip farms are now few and far
between in the UK, due to the climate changing we can expect to see
more purple lavender farms popping up around the UK. You can’t
always get into these farms at the best times of day – sunrise and sunset- unless you’re willing to pay for exclusive entry, which they normally
ask for from photographers, so you’re restricted to the daytime or
shooting from the edges. If you’re lucky enough to get puffy clouds
and the field isn’t inundated with people, you can get some beautiful
images using a wide-angle lens to make the most of the straight lines
converging into the distance. In an ideal world, these lines in the
landscape will all be leading towards a lone tree in the background but
it’s a rare sight so we live in hope; looking for any focal point to anchor
the viewer with, however, can aid a composition. Look out for shadows
cast by trees too as these too can work well for lead-in lines.
July 2019 Digital SLR Photography 83